🌀 US B2B commerce on marketplaces. Is global adoption ahead?

🛒 Mass merchant marketplaces

• 🌎 Amazon could launch standalone grocery, healthcare subscriptions to attract younger and low-income customers to its Prime membership service The retailer is also exploring adding primary care services via One Medical to the existing suite of Prime benefits. The new subscriptions could be rolled out as early as the end of the year. Deep dive → Insider Intelligence

• 🇭🇰 Cainiao Network Technology (Alibaba logistic arm) targets $1B in Hong Kong IPO as soon as next week. The logistics unit later expanded into the global e-commerce arena, handling parcels for millions of merchants and brands on platforms like AliExpress and Southeast Asia's Lazada. Cainiao operates over 300 international routes, partners with more than 3,000 logistics partners, and promises 24-hour delivery in China and 72-hour delivery worldwide. Deep dive → NewsBytesap

• 🇺🇸 Walmart debuts a subscription service, enabling shoppers to receive regular shipments of food, paper products, pet supplies, and more. Deep dive → WinshightGroceryBusiness

• 🇬🇧 TikTok Shop UK launches a new 'refurbished technology' product category. The TikTok community can now buy second-hand mobile phones and tablets directly through TikTok Shop from leading merchants (e.g. eFones, Box.co.uk, Yoltso). Deep dive → TikTok

• 🇩🇪 eBay Lokal shopping launched in Germany. The service is for everyone who wants to buy and sell products in their own area. eBay will also start a test phase for a map-based local browsing experience in a few weeks. Deep dive → ChannelX

👗 Fashion marketplaces

• 🇺🇸 Shein shifts its shipping strategy to bring China-made goods closer to U.S. shoppers. Shein is sending more low-priced apparel and home goods to U.S. warehouses from China to speed up shipping times for shoppers. The move also marks a strategy shift for Shein, which has traditionally flown goods directly from China to shoppers. Deep dive → CNBC

• 🇪🇺 Zalando uses private label to test new materials, circularity, versatility. Zalando launched a new collection within its private label ZIGN, called ZIGN Studio, to adopt a circular approach that is said to incorporate the latest material innovations in an affordable way. Deep dive → JustStyle

• 🇬🇧 Secret Sales expands into Europe by acquiring Dreivip (Spanish online fashion retailer). Secret Sales is the UK-based, leading premium off-price fashion marketplace that raised $10M for expansion in Europe. The move marks the beginning of the discounter’s M&A strategy after its recent expansion into the Netherlands and Belgium. Deep dive → Apparel resources

• 🇬🇧 Shein ramping up UK expansion with talks to buy Missguided (UK-based multichannel retailer selling clothes aimed at women aged 16-35 years old). Deep dive → This Money

• 🇪🇸 Vinted Spain sellers are now able to send their items without the need to print the shipping label. Vinted provides reusable mailer bags at any of Boyacá shops across Spain for free. Deep dive → Linkedin

🍔 Food marketplaces

• 🌎 Uber Eats to roll out AI features and more payment options. Uber Eats will roll out an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered assistant to help users find deals and explore different food options and launch a dedicated section to showcase promotional offers called "Sales Aisle". The new features are set to roll out this year or in 2024. Deep dive → Reuters

• 🌎 Delivery Hero confirms talks on partial sale of Asian business. Grab could pay approx. $1.07B for the unit. Delivery Hero plans to sell its activities under the foodpanda brand in Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand, it said in a statement. Deep dive → Reuters

• 🇮🇳 Swiggy appears to now be advertising for brands on its order tracking screen. Users visit this screen several times when they’re waiting for their order, and having a brand displayed on it could be a nice top-of-the-mind recall branding exercise. Deep dive → OfficeChai

• 🇬🇧 Getir is cutting prices across over 100 essential everyday products in a bid to help shoppers save during the cost-of-living crisis. The rapid grocery delivery firm will be offering savings of up to £1.75 across its app from 21st September. Deep dive → GroceryGazette

• 🇬🇧 Deliveroo has opened two new dark stores for its Hop rapid grocery delivery service in collaboration with Morrisons and Waitrose. The delivery-only stores will provide local residents with access to groceries seven days a week, from 8am to 11pm. Deep dive → GroceryGazette

📦Various marketplaces

• 🌎 Wish.com to expand sexual wellness category. Wish announced plans to launch a dedicated “Wish After Dark” area on the Wish app and website that showcases some of the latest sexual wellness products on the market at a wide range of price points. Deep dive → MarketScreener

• 🌎 Airbnb cracks down on high fees and fake listings. Airbnb has removed 59,000 and prevented another 157,000 from joining the platform so far this year. Additionally, Airbnb changed how prices are displayed, which discourages hosts from touting low prices but piling on extra fees. However, only about one-third of Airbnb renters are using it. Deep dive → Martinsville bulletin

• 🌎 Expedia Group launches a new program called EG Labs to give some consumers early access to tests AI in its Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo products. The first product will be Project Explorer, which Expedia said is its latest ChatGPT-based feature on iOS, which “makes discovering new places and different types of trips easier through curated options based on interest, budget, time of year, and geographical location.” Deep dive → Phocus Wire | Skift

• 🌎 Etsy surveys sellers on potential Offers Hub. "Etsy Offers Hub" where it would provide access to discounts from third-party vendors that offer tools and services for sellers. Deep dive → EcommerceBytes

• PL Otodom (real estate division of OLX) provides a free Otodom Concierge service. Users can utilize this service to receive assistance from dedicated experts in streamlining their home search based on their preferred criteria. Users will also receive alerts for new listings that match their requirements and have the option to request personalized offers from sellers. Deep dive → Otodom

🌟Funding/new marketplaces

• 🇩🇪 Cardino (electric vehicle marketplace) raises $1.1M in pre-seed investment. Cardino, which connects EV sellers to dealerships through auctions, also announced the launch of a new website to streamline these transactions. Deep dive → Tech.eu

• 🇪🇺 Metaloop (Scrap metal trading marketplace) raises $17M. Metaloop sellers is an industrial entity where scrap metal is a by-product of something else they create and where they don’t have the expertise to monetize their offcuts. This could be industrial manufacturers ranging from small localized SMBs to billion-dollar multinationals spanning the automotive, electronics, or construction sectors. Deep dive → TechCrunch

•  🇸🇪 Norban (operator of a unique housing marketplace and brokerage service in Sweden) raised €2 million to further strengthen the company’s technological infrastructure and drive it towards profitability. Norban distinguishes itself in the real estate landscape by merging traditional brokerage services with its innovative pre-market platform. This approach allows sellers to explore the market’s potential without committing to advertising costs upfront. Deep dive → OreSund Startups